Berry bucks the music festival trend
As Australia’s live music sector continues to shift away from large-scale festivals, Berry on the NSW South Coast is showing how smaller regional music events might help fill the gap.
Music
Arts editor HELEN MUSA rocks up to a Queanbeyan Players' rehearsal in a local church hall as they prepared for their coming production of Les Misérables.
The Australian String Quartet is busy working up a program that combines the very new, the very old, some exciting Russian virtuosity and a dash of the romantic, writes HELEN MUSA.
The Australian National Eisteddfod is about to launch its 2026 season with Bands & Orchestras.
Music
Carefully paced concert as The Whitlams meet the CSO
"It did not sound like a rock band with a tacked-on orchestra, with the two were well integrated with some attractive scoring, including two arrangements by Peter Sculthorpe." GRAHAM McDONALD reviews the Whitlams in concert with the CSO.
Music
Choir traces an emotional path from sorrow to joy
LEN POWER reviews Radiant Dawn: From Lamentation to Light, a performance by Coro choral ensemble.
Music
Bringing forth an orchestral feel for the Fourth
MICHAEL WILSON reviews a performance of Beethoven's Fourth by the Australian Haydn Ensemble.
"The ghost of Beethoven would have thoroughly enjoyed the evening." THAYER PREECE reviews Musica Viva's touring program involving three most celebrated Australian classical musicians.
“I call it ‘a daughter’s promise fulfilled’… I want everybody to be on the same page and have a deep understanding of the person I want them to feel for," Lisa Simone tells arts editor HELEN MUSA.
" This was an adventurous program from The Llewellyn Choir of two modern Easter masses mixed in with a couple of shorter choral works and two instrumental breaks from a string ensemble," writes reviewer GRAHAM McDONALD.
Canberra musician, music advocate and composer Michael Sollis died at Clare Holland House early on Friday after a five-year battle with bowel cancer. He was 40.
Rob Kennedy reviews Luminescence and the Machine, developed in collaboration with Grammy Award winners William Brittelle and Cameron Beauchamp, at The Street Theatre.
"This was a very cleverly conceived and realised Anzac Day concert. The singing was excellent and the readings from Ada’s letters were moving and an ongoing reminder of the horrors of that time," writes music reviewer GRAHAM McDONALD.
"Ida Pelliccioli's style is friendly and engaging rather than authoritative and grand. But she showed she is a rare master of the keyboard," writes music reviewer MICHAEL WILSON.
"It was disappointing that Aimee Brown’s performance was not made more visible." MICHELLE POTTER reviews the dance element of Salut! Baroque's Invitation to Dance concert.
LEN POWER reviews a recital by young Italian pianist Andrea Molteni.
With Anzac Day approaching, Polifemy is embarking on something it has never done before, blending slideshow, spoken word and music into its usual performance format, reports HELEN MUSA.
ROB KENNEDY reviews Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, a Chamber Series performance from the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.
HELEN MUSA reviews Easter Oratorio, a performance by the Canberra Bach Ensemble.
